ROCHESTER, Minn. – Nebraska Wesleyan opened the 2017 season season by going 2-2 at the Rochester Dome games in Rochester, Minnesota on Feb. 25-26. The Prairie Wolves won both games on Saturday, then dropped two games Sunday.
NWU rolled to its wins on Saturday afternoon as they blew out Martin Luther 11-0 in the season opener, then got past St. Scholastica 8-2 in the second game of the day. On Sunday, the Prairie Wolves were shutout 8-0 by St. Thomas, then ended the trip with a 10-5 loss to Dominican University.
Against Martin Luther in the opening victory, the Prairie Wolves pounded out 13 hits to get the win in just five innings due to a run rule. They scored three runs in the 2
nd, one in the 3
rd, five in the 4
th and two more in the 5
th.
Nicole Vana had a huge day at the plate going 2-4 with a double and four RBI.
Maddy Ethen was 2-3 with a double and two RBI, while
Madi Francis,
Alyssa Curry and
Jordan Arndt also each had two hits.
Claire Poppe got the shutout win on the mound allowing just two hits with four strikeouts in five innings.
NWU scored a run in every inning to defeat St. Scholastica 8-2 on Saturday night. Once again the Prairie Wolves had double digit hit total with 12 total hits compared to only three for St. Scholastica.
Maddy Ethen went a perfect 3-3 with a double, RBI and walk to highlight the Prairie Wolves offense.
Morgan Shipley was 3-4 with two RBI and a stolen base.
Danelle Snyder doubled with two hits and two walks.
LeighAnn Novotny was the winning pitcher throwing a complete game allowing just three hits and two earned runs. She struck out five and walked two.
The competition was much tougher on Sunday as NWU faced 14
th-ranked University of St. Thomas. UST gave up only hit on the day as they defeated the Prairie Wolves 8-0 in five innings to give NWU their first loss of the year.
NWU jumped ahead 1-0 in the final game against Dominican on Sunday afternoon, but DU then responded with six runs in the top of the 3
rd inning. The Prairie Wolves chipped away scoring two runs in both the 4
th and 5
th innings to cut the lead down to one. Dominican then sealed the win with four runs in the top of the 6
th.
Vana was a perfect 4-4 at the plate with an RBI to lead the NWU offense. Francis was 2-4 with two RBI, a double and stolen base.
Jesse Briley took the loss allowing three runs, one earned, in 2.2 innings.
Nebraska Wesleyan now prepares for its spring trip where they will play 12 games in Florida.